Boxes, cartons and the like



Nov. 28, 1961 c. w. SHELDON-WILLIAMS 3,010,635

BOXES, CARTONS AND THE LIKE Filed May 17, 1960- 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 [noenior CHARLES SHELOON- WILLIAMS Attorneys Nov. 28, 1961 c. w. SHELDON-WILLIAMS 3, 0,

BOXES, CARTONS AND THE LIKE Filed May 17, 1960 2 Sheets$heet 2 I Inventor CHARLES SHELDON- WILL/4M5 A tlorneys ilnited States Patent 3,010,635 BOXES, CARTONS AND THE LIKE Charles W. Sheldon-Williams, West Malling, England,

assignor t Reed Corrugated Cases Limited, London,

England, a British company Filed May 17, 1960, Ser. No. 29,618 Claims priority, application Great Britain May 28, 1959 4 Claims. (Cl. 229-33) This invention is concerned with improvements in or relating to boxes, cartons, trays and like packages of cardboard, corrugated board and similar light weight material.

According to the invention there is provided a box, carton, tray or the like comprising a rectangular base having two end Walls, and two side walls hingedly connected thereto, each of said end walls having pockets, slots or like retaining means which, when the end walls are erected, face respectively upwards and laterally thereof, said side walls having hinged tabs adapted to engage in said laterally facing pockets, slots or like retaining means, and one or both of said side walls having a flap hingedly connected thereto and adapted to extend over the top of the erected box or the like, said flap having tabs adapted to engage in said upwardly facing pockets, slots or like retaining means.

The said end walls may if desired be of a single thickness of material with suitable shaped slots therein to receive the tabs on the side walls and on the flaps connected thereto. Preferably however we provide pockets on the end walls by securing thereto additional pieces of material which although they are secured to the end walls provide access for the tabs fromabove and from the side. This arrangement which can be effected by one additional piece of material of similar shape to that of the end wall gives a double thickness end wall with increased strength. In a further preferred form of the invention we provide the end walls with three thicknesses of material, one of which constitutes the end wall proper whilst the other two are so secured to it as to provide respectively laterally facing pockets and upwardly facing pockets.

This latter arrangement of the end walls can be very conveniently made by forming the end walls of generally T shape, the upright of the T being of twice the desired depth of the erected end wall, and the wings of the T being then foldable on to the upright. By folding the wings on to the upright and then folding the upright in half onto itself, a triple thickness end wall is formed, with laterally directed pockets formed by the folded up right portion of the T and upwardly pockets formed between the said wings of the T and the upright. The end walls so folded can then be secured either by glue or preferably staples to permit access to the appropriate tabs.

The width across the erected box of the wings of the T can vary as required, but it is possible to form said wings of such a length that they can be folded to provide upwardly directed triangularly shaped pockets on the end walls into which the appropriate tabs can be inserted. Such triangularly shaped pockets and the walls defining them can then be perforated in order to allow air to enter the box which can then be used for transport of young chicks, horticultural produce or other goods where it is desirable that air should have access to the interior of the box.

The top of boxes, cartons or trays according to this invention can be either wholly or partially covered depending on the construction of the said flaps hingedly connected inc to side width of the box so that upon erection the upper surface is closed. If desired the box can be finally sealed by a strip of adhesive tape along the abutting edges of the two flaps.

In yet another embodimene we may provide a flap on only one of the two side walls which flap extends in the erected box over the full side to side width, and has tabs suitably placed to engage the upwardly directed pockets in the end walls. In such case the second side wall will merely have tabs hinged thereto for insertion inthe laterally directed pockets.

Whilst we may if desired make up boxes, cartons or trays from a plurality of separate pieces of material suitably shaped and connected together as indicated, it is preferred, according to this invention, to provide a single integral blank cut and scored to provide the required walls, flaps and tabs.

In order that the invention may be well understood one preferred embodiment by way of example only will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 shows a plan view of a blank for a flanged tray according to the invention,

FIGURE 2 shows a psrspective view of a partly erected flanged tray made from the blank of FIGURE 1, and

FIGURE 3 shows a plan view of part of a modified end wall of a box or tray according to the invention.

A flanged tray according to the invention is formed from a single integral blank of double faced corrugated board.

This blank is cut to provide a rectangular base 1 having an end Wall portion 2 hingedly connected to each of two opposite sides thereof and a side wall portion 3 hingedly connected to each of the other two sides thereof.

Each side wall portion 3 has at each end a hingedly connected arcuately shaped tongue or tab 4 adapted, when the tray is made up to enter a laterally directed pocket in the end wall to be described. Each side wall portion is further provided with a flange forming flap 5 hingedly connected along its length. At each end of each flap 5 a tab or tongue 6 is hingedly connected, said tabs or tongues 6 being adapted to enter upwardly directed pockets in the end wall to be described.

Each end wall portion 2 of the blank is of generally T shape. The upright of the T portion is of a length equal to twice the depth of the erected end wall 7 of the tray and is provided with a fold line 8 half way along its length so that it can be folded in half to provide an end wall of double thickness. Extending from the half of the upright of the T remote from the base and on each side thereof a wing 9 is provided. These wings which are each of a width equal to approximately half the side to side width of the end wall 7 are provided with fold lines 10 to permit them to be folded back onto the part of the upright of the T to which they are connected.

. With the blank in a flat condition with the top surface of the base 1 facing upwardly, these Wings 9 are folded back under the portion of the upright of the T to which they are connected. The upright of the T is then folded in half so that the said remote portion thereof lays on top of the remainder and on what will be the inside of the end wall 7. Staples 11 are then driven through the triple thickness end wall so formedto secure the three plies together, the staples being located adjacent the longi tudinal centre line of the end wall 7.

, In this way an endwall is formed comprising an end wall proper 7 constituted by the part of the upright of the T directly connected to the base, a second thickness connected to the end wall proper along what will be the top edge but having laterally directed pockets 12 at each side therebetween, and a third thickness formed by the two wings 9 each of which are connected to said second thickness along the lateral edges but which form upwardly directed pockets 13 therewith.

In this form the blanks can be readily dispatched to a customer in flat condition. When it is desired to erect the tray it is merely necessary toiold the end walls and side 7 walls upwardly with respect to the base. The first menshown, having wings of greater length than those above described. The-wing 14 shown has been bent into angular form so that when secured by staples 15 to the end wall 7 a triangularly shaped pocket 16 is formed into which a suitably shaped tab (not shown) onthe top or top forming flange can be inserted.

It will be seen that easily assemblable boxes, cartons or trays can be provided in a very simple manner according to this invention, which articles have good stacking strength by virtue of the double or triple end Wall thickness.

I claim:

1. A container formed of sheet material and comprising; a generally rectangular bottom having opposed side walls and opposed end Walls foldably connected thereto; said end walls each comprising three layers of said sheet material; an adjacent pair of said layers having free end edges defining .laterally open pockets therebetween, another adjacent pair of said layers having free upper edges defining upwardly open pockets therebetween; said side walls having end tabs foldably joined to the ends thereof and extending into said laterally open pockets; at least one of said side walls having a top flap foldably connected to the upper edge thereof and extending across the top of said container at least from end to end thereof; and tabs folded downwardly from the ends of said flap and extending into said upwardly open pockets.

2. A container as defined in claim 1 wherein said upwardly open pockets are of triangular shape in horizontal section.

3. A container formed of sheet material and comprising; a generally rectangular bottom having opposed side walls and opposed end walls foldably connected thereto; said end walls each comprising three layers of said sheet material; the outermost layer being folded upwardly from an end of said bottom wall; the intermediate layer being folded downwardly from the upper edge of said outer layer and defining laterally open pockets at the ends of said .end wall; the innermost layer comprising inner flaps folded inwardly from the ends of said intermediate layer and defining therebetween upwardly open pockets; said side walls having end tabs foldably joined to the ends there- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,146,827 Ware July 20, 1915 2,295,141 Van Wingen Sept. 8, 1942 2,608,340 Donnell Aug. 26, 1952 Kitchell i... ,OCL 28, 

